Montessori Environment Rating Scales

There is a great deal of concern in the Montessori community over the use of inappropriate environmental rating scales to rate Montessori programs for QRIS.  In some states, these scales penalize Montessori programs for not having blocks, plush toys and dress-up corners.  While there are environmental rating scales (such as MRS) that offer a Montessori friendly alternative, they are problematic for a number of reasons and, as of this writing, have not been accepted by any state QRIS agencies.

Is there an alternative that the Montessori community could use?

There are rating scales that have been specifically created for use in a Montessori environment. The problem in using these, though, comes on several levels.

First, QRIS is a state initiative and is managed by a state office or agency. QRIS is, at one level, supposed to be a uniform measure of quality that can be easily understood by any number of stakeholders, and primary among them is parents. Using a different rating tool for each of the early childhood programs that would like to be seen as "unique" opens the state agency to a great deal of time and money and a complication that is not consistent with the goals of QRIS and serves "no purpose" for the state.

Secondly, the commonly used scale has been used for many years. A tremendous amount of reliability and validity research has been done, the instrument has been studied as to its predictive outcome value, and it has a history. States are looking to one another for precedent, states with RTT-ELC grants are working within a specific timeframe, and have requirements within their application that require compliance.

Thirdly, the commonly used scale rates a classroom and program on a variety of components. Environment, and curriculum materials is just one of these. The program's administrative practices, family involvement, staff qualifications and teacher-student interaction, inclusion of special needs students and the programs responsiveness to cultural diversity are all included. The Montessori specific tools which we have seen are limited to specifics of the classroom environment and/or teacher-student interactions.

Montessori educators, just like anyone else, can take the specified training to become a rater using the state tool. However, these raters are "employees" of either the state agency administering QRIS, or are contract workers for the independent which has been contracted by the state to do these ratings. Using Montessori experienced educators to complete ratings in Montessori environments could be an interesting proposal to advocate for within your state.

We do have some precedent for state agencies being willing to work with Montessori educators to adapt the currently used scale, and we are working on precedent for schools which are accredited by a national organization (like AMS or AMI) to earn points within QRIS.

All of these initiatives are issues which the Montessori community can advocate for. By organizing, sharing information, and showing a willingness to work with state agencies, we can help educate, in real, understandable terms, the benefits of high quality Montessori education taught by high quality Montessori teachers.

Look for tools and resources on Montessori Forward. Share your questions, ideas and successes on the List Serve.